Zoo Chat: Rhino love is in the air

As Valentine’s Day draws closer, love is in the air at Taronga Western Plains Zoo.

Greater one-horned rhino pair Dora and Amala have recently had their first couple of introductions or first dates.

Keepers gave the animals access to each other as they were normally solitary animals and only come together to mate.

The keepers were very impressed with the behaviour they saw from both animals considering it was the first time they had shared the same space together.

There was lots of verbal communication going on between the two as well as chasing and physical contact with each other.

This communication is to let the other animal know they are in season and ready to breed.

While the first couple of dates did not result in any mating behaviour it was a positive start into what is hopefully going to be a successful breeding program for the species and Taronga Western Plains Zoo.

During the coming months the pair will continue to be introduced when the female is in season so they can continue to get to know each other better with the aim to have the pair breed.

Greater one-horned rhinos have not been bred in Australia and while Taronga Western Plains Zoo is the only zoo to hold the species in Australia it is working hard to play its role in the international breeding program for this endangered species.